[Blue_Bird]

I haven't cut in officially a month, but what I have done is lower my calorie intake to 600 calories a day. Then whenever I'm mad at myself/or upset I make myself not eat anything for 2-3 days. Would this be considered self harm or an improvement from it? It makes me feel better and has become a replacement to cutting.

[grey_aj]

It might not necessarily be labelled as "self harm" but it is most certainly self-destructive behavior. If it is a "replacement" to cutting then it is not an improvement from it. I think what you are doing can be considered as disordered eating.

Please take care!

- AJ

[mazing]

First of all, congratulations on not cutting. That is a great achievement and really should be celebrated.

I would agree with AJ about the disordered eating though. It isn't self-harm but it still is something destructive and can be dangerous for your health if it is done regularly.

Please take care

[Grey Matter]

Disordering your eating IS self harming behavior. I am both someone who self harms, and I am anorexic. Both are dangerous, and one can end in extreme bodily harm. If you restrict your diet so much to 600 calories a day, you're putting your body into starvation mode. Which can harm your organs, immune system, and even brain function.

[IchbinkeinTeufel]

Teen Idle is right - if it deals harm to one's self, then it's self-harm, by the very words and basic meaning that make the term. It sounds like you are substituting one form of SH for another. I know this might seem like a crushing thing to realise, especially if you've held high the month free of THAT word, but know that, as far as I'm concerned, it's still an accomplishment, no matter what anyone says, and well done for it.

A bit of my theory:

I'm fairly sure, at least in my case, that you truly know, yourself, if it's the bad kind of "self-harm", that is, not just physically damaging, but mentally/emotionally damaging. As I've said on other thread(s), we do things to ourselves that are harmful (yes, self-harm) like tattoos, piercings, and various other things, but it's not just about the actual harm, as it is the why of doing it - if the why is bad enough, then it can be so damaging to one's mentality, that it can worsen, and further warp the mind, hence what I often refer to as "fog"; the veil with which self-harm and depression itself covers self-harmers, allowing them to find illogical and irrational reasons to justify and defend acts of self-harm.

i agree.

anything like that would be self harm

hope you are okay

[Blue_Bird]

Thanks for the replies everyone, I appreciate them. I guess I didn't want to admit that this may be dangerous, it just makes me feel better. It's like I feel worse when I eat. I was so happy about not cutting. I don't know if this is something I should bring up with my therapist or not? For me it doesn't actually feel dangerous because I'm not underweight.

[mazing]

I would suggest speaking to your T about it. It can still impact on your health, even if you aren't underweight and with a limit like that it won't take long before you do become an unhealthy weight.

Your T might be able to help.